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I agree with some reviewers that refilling the cartridge take a little extra hand-eye coordination, and is a bit time-consuming and definitely more of an annoyance than you want to deal with re: a humidifier.. I found that just snipping off a corner of the bag allows a little more control in pouring the granules. I also plug up the center cavity with a wad of wet paper towel. Wet towels are better than dry because the grains will stick to the wet paper more readily when you pull it out.
All this being said, I'm writing this review to underscore an option that the instruction manual mentioned, and which I've learned to swear by. USE DISTILLED WATER in the reservoir. It's 59 cents a gallon or cheaper at your local giant-grocer. No white powder whatsoever, and you never have to clean the tank with Air-O-Swiss's gimmicky powder cleaners. Using distilled water, you can just unscrew the water-purifying cylinder from the reservoir cap and throw it in the garbage (or, if you're hate throwing anything out, just put back in the box which you most likely saved and are keeping in the basement). I'm a lawyer and a skeptic by nature, and I don't think that the "purifying beads" do anything substantive. Even a fresh filter leaves that white powder. Frankly, I think that the money saved in not buying the company's custom-designed external expenses is far outweighed by the money spent on "fancy" distilled water. I can't help but think of the cost of printer ink when I think of these water filters; you buy the base unit (printer/humidifier) for a good deal, not realizing how much more money you will be forking over in the maintenance of the darn thing.
This is a humidifier, after all, not a life-support machine. There are two options; dealing with the vaguely annoying white powder, or spending a little extra money on something that will avoid the nuisance of cleaning up the white powder. Personally, I prefer spending my money on store-bought distilled water than some chemically questionable "white beads" (what are they made out of, anyway?? Are they recyclable? Is there any data on how much these bead actually "purify" the water? And does the production of these beads use non-renewable resources? Don't ask Air-O-Swiss...they won't tell you). On the other hand, I know how distilled water is made. And I can tell you from personal experience that using distilled water keeps the humidifier in tip-top, brand-new-looking shape. When the "clean" light on my unit comes on, I just reset without thinking. There's nothing to clean. You could use distilled water for years and still have less buildup than one or two uses of regular tap water (filtered or otherwise, I would argue).
Well, enough of my ranting and raving in favor of distilled water. I think I've made my feelings clear. In response to the reviews from members who complained about the high cost of filter replacement in their hard-water environments, this is my "perfect" solution to you. Take it for what it's worth.
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My air-o-swiss is sucking up atleast 1 filter every month. Recently, I bought the refill packs. Having used them 3 times, I feel that it was a wise decision. I get the same performance from the filter, for 1/4th the price.
As of he refilling part, I found it quiet easy. While emptying the filter, shake the filter in the trash can. Most of the "stuff" will fall off easily. You can wash off any that clings to the filter. Shouldn't take u more than 30 seconds to do this. When it comes to filling up the filter, I make a very small cut in the plastic bag with a scissor. This gives me better control on the flow of the granules. I fill up the outer chamber first and then the inner one. Any slight over flows, I wash it off.
All in all, it takes 3 minutes tops. Well worth the effort.
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I agree that the cartridge was not easy to fill -the beads are a little tricky to get into the cartridge (they sort of stick to each other and to the bag they are in and to your hands, so it takes awhile to get them packed in).
However, the cost savings definitely makes up for the slight trouble -3 separate cartridges would range from approx. $36 $45, while this package of 3 refills only cost $19.00! Well worth the extra 5 minutes every 3 months.
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This cartridge refill works great with my humidifier and is much cheaper than buying the actual cartridge. Most of the white dust is eliminated, just be sure to soak the refilled cartridge for at least 24 hours. I only use the humidifier at night and have found that it works much better if you keep the cartridge covered in water when the unit is not on.
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Well, I expected the humidifier to work the same way like with the original cartridge. To my surprise the granules are a totally different. First of all after the 24 h soaking period the cartridge was clogging up frequently and the humidifier stopped working. Shaking it up helped for a view hours but had to be repeated for several days. Now it is running constantly but it blows white dust all over the place like a very old cartridge.
There is no indication on the packaging about the manufacturing date and I assume that this stuff is just too old. I missed the return window, because I ordered it to have a spare when I need it and not for immediate use. Now I am stuck with useless granules and have to buy an entire cartridge and create more waste. Very disappointing for a top notch manufacturer!
